Gotta Knock A Little Harder
by ChaoticNights
Summary: Sorry, this was deleted... thanks for your reviews, reviewers! Amy gets trapped inside one of Eggman's many traps, and it's up to Shadow to save her! And, I suck at summaries, so R


My first fic! 3

Don't be to tough on me…okay?

I'd like to thank Yoko Kanno for Gotta Knock A Little Harder. I don't think he wrote the lyrics…but the song is soooo good. You guys should really listen to it!

And I don't own sonic the hedgehog. I wish I did, I mean, who doesn't. But Sega and the Sonic Team…it's all yours, guys.

Also, I'm REALLY bad at naming the levels…so I used one of my favorite Songs as a level name. I know some people know the song and will get really pissed or something, but I like it, so I guess they'll have to deal with it huh?

So. Yeah. Here it is. PLEASE review, okay?

_Happiness is just a word to me_

_And it might have meant a thing or two _

If I'd known the difference 

Sonic and Amy stood in a huge clearing in Virtual Hasseigaku, a huge star embryo (or a nursery, a cluster of stars) that was part of a place in Eggman's laboratory. Amy was inching closer and closer to Sonic, questioning him about the mission ahead. Sonic was answering with indifference.

"Sonic, how are we gonna catch Eggman? He used that big rocket to escape!" Amy cried.

"We've got to either trust in Tails or…" Sonic paused. "Or we…"

"What, Sonic? Will Knuckles be able to help us?"

Sonic shook his head. "The Master Emerald was broken during our time at the MegaMetropolis. He's probably looking for it. Remember he always puts the Master Emerald first."

"Well…what about…him?" Amy said, softly.

Sonic looked at Amy, confused. "Shadow?" he asked.

Amy looked over Sonic's shoulder at Shadow. "I don't trust him."

Sonic nodded. "I know. But Shadow's the only chance we've got. Tails is so badly injured from the last fight with Eggman in MegaMetropolis that he can hardly move. We're lucky Shadow's actually joining us…we're lucky he's mad at Eggman at all."

Shadow, who stood aloof , heard everything both heroes (or hero and heroine) were saying. He frowned, shutting his red eyes to try to see in his mind why he had teamed up with Sonic and Amy. He could remember faintly Eggman saying something about a machine, but he hadn't heard the name. Sonic had been fighting some other robot, and Shadow had been watching, silent, in a darker corner. He wasn't looking to fight Eggman, he just wanted to finally get rid of Sonic, so he wanted to observe his opponent first, instead of rushing in to defeat him. But when he had heard about this machine- the machine Eggman had built to destroy Sonic- he knew he had to be the one to destroy that machine. If he destroyed the machine, then he was the ultimate life form and he could prove it. But Eggman's plans had failed before, so Shadow was skeptical of teaming up with Sonic and of all people Amy…

Shadow did like Amy, but he didn't really know how to express it. And besides that, she was heads over heels for Sonic, so she really paid no attention to him. He didn't mind. It wasn't like he really cared.

In fact…Amy was the only one who ever hurt him. She said he was an unhappy, confused hedgehog…but...was he?

_Emptiness, a lonely parody _

_And my life, another smokin' gun _

_A sign of my indifference _

"Tails!" Sonic cried, as the Tornado 3.5 broke onto the Virtual Hasseigaku clearing.

Tails was covered in bandages, but somehow, he had managed to get the plane in the air, and using his auto pilot and his programming skills, had gotten his plane to follow Amy's cell phone signal.

"Hurry.." Tails rasped. "I'm not sure if I have enough gas to keep us in the air for much longer…"

"Come on, Shadow!" Amy yelled. She turned to look at him.

Amy didn't know why the black and red hedgehog made her feel so uncomfortable. He seemed so devoid and empty, with no spirit whatsoever.

Shadow hurried over to the Tornado and got in before Amy, but after Sonic. Amy shook her head at him, following him into the ship.

In a strange way, Shadow had a mutual connection with her, didn't he? She continued to run into him…was that good? She felt an attraction to him, but not like the one that she felt with Sonic.

"Tails, have you been following us with the Tornado since MegaMetropolis?" Sonic asked, snapping Amy into reality.

"I've tried." Tails said, with a small smile. "Actually, Eggman had an airshaft above this area. I took that to the clearing…"

Shadow stood alone again, and Amy looked at him, as Sonic and Tails still conversed. She wasn't sure what he wanted from Eggman. Wasn't he the 'ultimate life form'? What the heck would Eggman have that he wanted? And yet there he was, with his cool and unapproachable demeanor. Amy sighed to herself. Why was she even wondering all of this? It was a waste of energy, in fact it was

"We're here!" Sonic exclaimed. "This is it! This is VirtualDNA!"

Amy looked out the window, along with Tails and Sonic and finally, Shadow, who still stood aloof and with out a sound.

"Virtual DNA?" Amy asked.

"See those green tubes?" Tails said softly. "Those are full of this high powered nuclear energy, which is made of the same stuff your blood is made of. And this energy source can certainly power up whatever Eggman's making- just a little bit of it should be enough to keep electricity for days on end. Whatever he's doing, it's certainly gonna be really powerful."

_Always keepin' safe inside_

_Where no one ever had a chance _

_To penetrate a break in _

Shadow listened to Tails' words. 'Really powerful'…was it going to be stronger than he thought? Perhaps Eggman had not been exaggerating…

With a sigh, Amy turned away from the window. Shadow looked over at her, through his peripheral vision. She was staring at her hands. Sonic turned around and started talking to her. Shadow looked away.

He didn't care…did he?

Tails landed the Tornado. "Be careful." He rasped now. "There's probably more that one reason he's using that nuclear power…"

Shadow looked around. They were on a big platform. Smoke from Eggman's ship made a quickly disappearing trail in the air. The platform had a spiral of energy tubes on it.. The tubes led to a pathway, and the pathway disappeared in the virtual starry skies.

"We will. Thanks Tails." Amy said.

"Yeah Tails, thanks a lot." Sonic agreed.

Although grateful for the ride, Shadow only said, "Let's go."

Tails smiled. "I see." He rasped. "You're welcome."

Shadow glared at him. "I didn't say thank you." But Tails just continued to smile.

Sonic, seeing Shadow was getting a little pissed, said, "We'd better move," and dashed off board. Shadow followed suit, with Amy behind them, screaming for them to wait up.

Shadow slowed down a little bit, and Sonic slowed a whole lot. He grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her with him towards the pathway.

"Any ideas of what's ahead, shadow?" Sonic asked calmly.

Shadow didn't reply at first. "Something easy." He said finally.

"I'm sure fighting that huge robot will be pretty easy." Amy said doubtfully.

"What huge- Whoah!" Sonic skidded to a halt, and shadow skidded also, but his stop wasn't as abrupt as Sonic and Amy's. Amy went flying at the robot, which wielded a huge spiked hammer and tough armor. It was already stomping towards them, so Amy was flying right into its attack. As the robot slowly put it's hammer back to attack Amy, Amy grabbed her Piko Piko hammer and slammed it on the Robot, not doing anything but confusing the robot, and she landed on her feet.

"that was close!" Amy sighed, looking back at Sonic and Shadow.

"It's not over yet." Shadow stated, as the robot got up again. This time, with more speed, it put its spiked hammer back in an attack position.

"Ahh!" Amy yelped, scrambling to get away.

Sonic leaped into the air and attacked with his signature 'Sonic SpinDash'. He ricocheted off the robot, and once again, the robot was confused.

"There's gotta be a way to stop that thing!" Sonic exclaimed.

Shadow gave it some thought. Then he attacked as well, only with his 'Dark Wind'. It wasn't strong enough to knock the armor off of the robot.

"I get it!" Sonic said. "If we use our Tornado attacks together, we might stir up enough wind to knock that armor off!"

Amy nodded. "I'll help too!" She exclaimed. "I can use Tornado Hammer to stir up more wind!"

The Robot started to move again, and Amy got away as fast as she could.

"Then we've got a plan!" Sonic said.

Shadow just nodded as an agreement.

So they tried.

"Sonic Wind!" Sonic called.

"Tornado Hammer!" Amy yelled from a bit farther behind.

"Dark Wind!" Shadow called, following Sonic's first attack.

They managed to stir up plenty of wind, and the robot lost his armor. It made a strange noise, a mechanical noise.

"It worked!" Amy cried happily.

"Nice plan, Shadow!" Sonic said.

"Hmph." Shadow said.

_Let me tell you some have tried _

_But I would slam the door so tight _

_That they could never get in_

Amy looked at Shadow curiously. To be told by your enemy that you had done a good job…that was extraordinary. And Shadow brushed it off like it was nothing!

Amy shook her head and used her propeller hammer, since she was already in the air. She glided, safely, to the ground next to Shadow. Maybe if she said something to him, he'd open up.

"It was a great plan!" Amy gushed.

Shadow ignored her completely. "Let's move on." He said, to Sonic.

Amy was appalled. She had been ignored before, but not when she was trying deliberately to be nice. She huffed and stormed off, with Sonic following her, calling, "Amy! Amy!"

She didn't stop. She just stomped on and found a door. A regular door that had a doorknob and it was wooden. Without thinking, Amy went in and slammed the door. To her surprise, there was barely a noise. She turned around, her eyes widened as she remembered where she was. Frozen, she listened in fear.

"Amy!" Sonic yelled. "Amy? Where…Amy, where are you?"

"She's disappeared." Shadow said. "Or maybe she went into this room."

"I'll open the door. Why don't you go ahead?" Sonic said.

"No." Shadow said.

Amy heard, after a few seconds, "It's locked."

Amy looked at the doorknob. It wasn't locked…it was stuck.

"SONIC! SONIC!" Amy cried, but he hadn't heard her- or if he did, he thought it was coming from somewhere else.

After a pause, she heard, "She was really mad. I guess she went off this way. Come on. We'll find her. I just hope Eggman won't find her first." It was Sonic. Had he heard her?

"SOOOONIC!" Amy yelled again. But he didn't answer.

_Kept my cool under lock and key _

_And I never shed a tear _

Another sign of my condition 

Amy took some deep breaths. "Well, she said, still facing the door, "Let's see. I should stay calm. I'm going to stay calm. I have to." She said aloud. She turned around.

There was a capsule, a big one, but she couldn't see into it. It was moving slightly. That was all that was in the room. The walls were gray and the only light was from the green energy.

"…uh-oh…" Amy said softly. "what am I gonna do…?"

Meanwhile, Shadow was contemplating, while running, what he ad done. Obviously, it was HIM who had angered Amy, but he was sure Amy had gone into that room. Maybe she had slammed the door so hard that it got stuck, or she locked it and went through another door. She must be farther ahead of them- or she could be behind them. And he was worried that he might need her help soon. In fact, sonic seemed worried.

"Amy! Amy, come on, where are you!" sonic was calling, running through the area. They both made it to the end of the path they were on. They were standing again, on a big platform.

"what's this?" shadow said darkly.

_Fear of love or bitter vanity _

_That kept me on the run _

_The main events at my confession_

"well, well, well, aren't we short two team members? Sonic, Shadow…but where could Amy and Tails be?"

"Eggman!" Sonic snarled.

"Doctor…" Shadow said dully, looking around to spot Eggman flying above them.

Eggman did his evil laugh. "It's too bad, Sonic." He said, gleefully. "I know where your last member is! But I'm not telling you!"

Sonic grimaced as Eggman started singing 'I'm not telling you, ha ha hahaha!'

Shadow looked around again, for Amy. Could it be she was still somewhere...still stuck in a room?

She couldn't have been...or she would have called for help when sonic had said the door was stuck…or did she not hear them?

"Sonic…" shadow said.

"What?" sonic said, looking at Shadow.

"Take care of Eggman. I know where Amy is."

"What!" Eggman and Sonic cried in unison.

_I kept a chain upon my door _

That would shake the shame of Cain 

_Into a blind submission_

"Hyaah!" Amy slammed her hammer against the door for the third time. "Aww…" she said, inspecting her minimal damage. The door obviously WASN'T wood. Sonic hadn't heard her through it… and she couldn't break it…was it sound proof and steel? She wasn't sure. Amy slumped against the door. She was upset and depressed, even more depressed than she though possible…possibly more upset than Shadow. Sonic wasn't half as depressed as Shadow…Sonic was optimistic. Shadow was fatalistic.

Amy closed her eyes to think, but the capsule was making sounds now- not human, not animal.

She opened her eyes and brought her knees to her chest. "What am I gonna do…" she moaned.

_The burning ghost without a name _

_Was calling all the same _

_But I wouldn't listen_

Sonic was about to say something, but Shadow had already run away. Shadow was sure- in fact POSITIVE- that Amy was still in that room with the stuck door.

He made it to the door, and looked around. It was wooden and there was a brass doorknob. It looked regular…but not for a virtual world.

Maybe Amy wasn't angry at him anymore. Maybe if he called, she would answer.

Amy, in the meanwhile, was watching in horror. The capsule was opening.

Something reddish like fire made a sizzling sound as smoke leaked out of the capsule, which closed and started to move again.

"Amy!" Amy heard. The room was hot, her head was thick and woozy feeling.

Amy looked around for something- anything- to cool herself off. She had to stay calm, she couldn't listen to the voices in her head.

"Amy!" Amy heard again.

Maybe she could stir up air.. Yeah. Stir up air with wind from her Tornado hammer.

So Amy tried. And it worked, it's just… still she heard…

"Amy!"

_The longer I'd stall _

_The further I'd crawl _

_The further I'd crawl _

_The harder I'd fall _

_I was crawlin' into the fire _

_The more that I saw _

_The further I'd fall _

_The further I'd fall _

_The lower I'd crawl _

_I kept fallin' into the fire _

_Into the fire _

Into the fire 

It wasn't sonic…but would Shadow come to rescue her? Amy hesitated. As she continued hearing her name- "Amy!"- over and over and over…

She didn't know if it was Shadow or not. The voice was panicked, and before, when she wasn't really listening, almost wailing.

' Should I answer? Should I…?' Amy thought, pacing in front of the door. 'It's not Shadow, not Sonic, and not Tails…It could be Eggman- or a Robot! What am I gonna do! I have to get out of here- even if it means getting captured…but what if that causes sonic some trouble…? I don't want that…but he has no clue where I am! Maybe I should get out- would sonic leave with out me?'

She kept an eye on the capsule, which was opening again. Could that same creature be coming out? Or might there be something worse?

On the other side of the door, Shadow kept calling Amy's name, in a frenzied way. She WAS in there- didn't she recognize him?

"Amy!" Shadow cried again, and he heard nothing, for the umpteenth time, but when he put his ear against the door, he realized how thick the door was. If his voice WAS carrying, it wasn't carrying far. And the door was cool- cooler than regular wood. Obviously, this was Not wood. This was some other material- a dense material.

Shadow decided to attack the door. If he attacked hard enough, maybe the door would break or cave in.

Shadow got himself ready to bash the door.

_Suddenly it occurred to me _

_The reason for the run and hide _

_Had totaled my existence_

Amy stared, wide-eyed at the capsule. She flattened herself against the door, when she felt all of a sudden- a soft thump sent her sprawling to the floor. Someone was out there, trying to get her out. It couldn't be Eggman or a Robot! And if it wasn't Sonic- was it shadow?

"SHADOW!" Amy yelled.

Shadow reared for another attack. He hadn't done any damage to the door yet, but he had to try again, to get Amy out of there. The reason she was in there was HIM- it was all his fault. He had to get her out. With another 'Shadow Spin' he bashed the door.

_Everything left on the other side _

_Could never be much worse than this _

_But could I go the distance_

The capsule opened…and an unthinkable heat suddenly flooded the room. Amy immediately started to sweat.

Something blue…something yellow…Something black…something Amy had already seen time and time and time again…

"Could this be…" Amy murmured. "Could this THING possibly be…Metal Sonic?"

Shadow saw the smoke pouring out from under the door. He readied himself for another attack, when he heard, suddenly, "Help!"

It was Amy! She had been stuck in there that whole time! Had she been yelling for help before? Why couldn't he hear her? Shadow yelled, "Amy?"

She replied, "Yes, yes, it's Amy! Shadow, please get me out of here!

"But the door is…" Shadow stared. If he could only chaos control himself in there…but he couldn't. He revved up another time. "I'll get you out of there." He said, confidently.

"…please hurry…" Amy said in a soft voice. Shadow never heard her speak like that before. She sounded very scared, and weak and fragile.

Shadow tried again and again, but he didn't break the door. Would it give in time?

_I faced the door and all my shame _

_Tearin' off each piece of chain _

_Until they all were broken_

Shadow continued to try, but Amy knew he couldn't break through the door.

"Shadow!" she said, loudly. "Don't do that anymore! This door isn't wood!"

He replied, "What?"

"I've been hitting it with my hammer! It's not breaking…I'm sorry." Amy said.

Shadow groaned. "I've been bashing against this door for nothing." He said. "why won't it open? Move the door knob in there Amy!"

Amy looked at Metal Sonic. He was much bigger and his body parts moved with ease. The first time she met Sonic…that was when Metal Sonic was around. Eggman had captured her and sonic saved her.

And here he was again. Would Metal remember her? Amy had a too vivid memory of him. She slowly reach to move the doorknob, when Metal Sonic's hand shot out and grabbed her hand.

"Ahh!" Amy screamed.

"What happened!" Shadow asked.

"Metal Sonic!" Amy yelped, trying to free her hand. But Metal had already gotten such a good hold on her hand- could she break it in time?

Shadow paced in front of the door, pausing to try and move the doorknob. He had to save Amy. "Amy, are you okay?" He called.

She didn't answer at first, but then she said, "No, not really! He's got my hand, and he's not feeling the blows from my Piko Piko! He's been using that Nuclear energy Tails told us about, and he's extra super strong! Do you think he might be what Eggman was going to use on us? His machine?"

"No." Shadow said. "that can't be it. He must have thought we'd go in there and get locked in with Metal Sonic. But only you did! The door must open when Metal Sonic is beaten!"

"I doubt that." Amy said. "I think it's worse than that- The door will NEVER open!"

Shadow asked, "why did you go in there anyway?"

Amy yelled, "you don't remember?…You…You…YOU…!"

Shadow said, "me WHAT?"

"Idiot! I was complimenting you PURPOSELY so that you'd open up, but you IGNORED me! You could have at least acknowledged me with a thanks or something. Or you could have LOOKED at me. But NO, you just said 'Let's get moving'!" then, in a spiteful voice, "Let's get moving! So I did! And look where I am!" She sounded sad now, "And I'm stuck and it's all my fault. I shouldn't have gotten so angry."

_But no matter how I tried _

_The other side was licked so tight _

_That door it wouldn't open_

Amy continued to beat on Metal sonic with her hammer during her one sided conversation with Shadow. He wasn't replying after her outburst a few minutes ago.

"I guess I shouldn't get so upset. It's just I've been ignored by EVERYONE…even Sonic. Sometimes, I WANT to be noticed- is that too much to ask? You sort of finished me off…especially since I was trying so hard to be nice… but… don't blame yourself. It's all my fault."

Metal sonic threw her forcefully against the door in a sudden movement. Amy groaned in pain and Shadow said, "What was that?"

She couldn't answer. Her whole back ached, and she could barely stand up. Metal was moving closer and closer and Amy felt her eyes tear up. Was THIS the end? Could this possibly be the end of her life? No…

Shadow forcefully twisted the doorknob, over and over. "come on…" he said to the doorknob. "Come on, Open!"

Amy was groaning in pain on the other side, and Shadow could practically hear Metal Sonic's movements…every three seconds an menacing step closer to Amy.

"Amy!" Shadow yelled. She didn't reply, but he knew she heard. "Amy…I…"

_Gave it all that I got _

_And started to knock _

_Shouted for someone _

_To open the lock _

_just gotta get through the door_

Amy didn't know what to do. Metal Sonic was still closer, moving closer and closer. He seemed a little slower, like Sonic's Data had gotten old.

Amy opened her mouth, but couldn't speak. She started to knock on the door.

'Please, please, PLEASE open the door, Shadow…Please..' she though to herself. Through unbearable pain, she continued to knock.

Shadow heard knocking. Amy!

"…I'm Trying!" He said, pulling the doorknob, then pushing, and then pulling again.

He wasn't sure what he could possibly do. What would get Amy out of there?

_And the more that I knocked _

_The hotter I got _

_The hotter I got _

_The harder I'd knock _

_I just gotta break through the door_

Amy knocked and knocked, but she could see how Metal Sonic was still closer. He was too close. His metal body was heated up from all the nuclear energy, it became hotter and hotter, like a roasting oven in the small room.

Amy knocked harder, but the pain became too much. She could hardly breathe the thick hot air, couldn't see, could only hear her breath and Metal and Shadow- but nothing more- and then, in three short seconds, the only thing she heard was a heart beat. HER heart beat.

Metal was grasping her neck, ready to kill her. She moaned and struggled to get air.

Gotta knock a little harder 

"Amy!" Shadow yelled. "Amy, what's happening?"

Gotta knock a little harder 

Struggling, Amy made a final attempt to knock on the door with all of her might.

_Gotta knock a little harder_

Shadow backed up and used his shoulder to bash the door. "Amy!"

Gotta knock a little harder 

Amy heard Shadow's bang, and she kicked the door.

Break through the door 

A hard knock sent Shadow flying to the floor. He got up and jiggled the knob.

Gotta knock a little harder 

Amy, now depleted of energy, struggled for her breath again, but her lungs were burning, and she wasn't sure if she could hold on for much longer…

Gotta knock a little harder 

"This is all my fault!" Shadow exclaimed.

Gotta knock a little harder 

Amy wanted to tell him he was wrong, but she couldn't really move or talk. She looked up- and two bright red eyes stared back.

'I'm sorry, Shadow!' Amy thought to herself, tears now streaming down her face. 'I'm sorry…because I loved you so much I HATED you!'

Break through the door 

"I'm sorry, Amy!" Shadow said, loudly. And with a click the door opened.

_Gotta Knock a little harder (gotta knock a little Harder)_

Amy saw, in her blurred vision, Shadow. His usual cool attitude was lost- he seemed to be relieved to see her, although he didn't seem relieved to see Metal Sonic…but…He looked down and then said, in wonder, "You unlocked the door."

Metal loosened his grip on Amy's neck, and gratefully, Amy gulped in air.

"Why did you unlock the door?" Shadow asked.

Metal said nothing. He just looked at Shadow, his red eyes dimming.

"…Shad…" Amy started to say.

"Quiet." Shadow said to her. "Just breathe. Don't talk."

Nodding in agreement, Amy followed his instructions, breathing deeply.

Metal finally said in a noiseless voice, 'Kill me.'

Amy heard this, but Shadow did not.

Amy said, "Shadow…he want….wants you to…"

Shadow looked at her now, his glare softening. "What?" he asked.

"to kill him.." Amy completed her sentence.

_Gotta knock a little harder (Gotta knock a little)_

Shadow looked at Metal. "I can't kill you…you saved Amy."

After a moment of silence, Amy said, "He says if you hadn't said those words then he would have killed me anyway."

"What? What words? What do you mean?"

Another pause, and Amy said, "You said you were sorry. It reminded him of something Sonic said before, when he tried to save him from dying."

"Is that…why you unlocked the door?"

_Break through the door (the door)_

Amy could breathe easier now, like normal. Metal let go of her neck, while Shadow stood in the doorway and kept saying he wouldn't kill Metal Sonic. But Amy could no longer hear anything Metal Sonic was saying.

"What did he say, Amy?" Shadow asked.

"I don't know." Amy said. she reach out and touched Metal Sonic. Although his hand had been cold, his metallic body was hot- burning hot. She only touched him for a second before she was burned, but faintly, she heard, 'before I kill Sonic, kill me.'

Amy widened her eyes. Shadow noticed and said, "What?"

"He's gonna kill Sonic if we don't kill him!" Amy said.

"Oh HECK no." Shadow said. "The only person killing Sonic is ME."

Amy gave him a look.

Shadow sighed. "Fine, Sonic will live…" he said. "I'll kill Metal, but HOW? I don't know the first thing about killing anything like him- although I fought him before."

Amy touched Metal again, and in that one second she got all the information she needed. "You have to…"

_Gotta knock a little harder (a little harder)_

Amy was about to finish her sentence, when Metal grabbed her neck again. He squeezed tightly, and Amy's air was cut off again. Shadow gaped.

"You'll kill her if I don't kill you, then?" Shadow said, incredulously. "you really want to die!"

Metal's eyes just flared up in bright red before returning to its dull color.

"Fine." Shadow said. "You die."

He first had to get Amy out of Metal's grip. He didn't have enough time to think. He had to gamble on Amy's life, which he didn't really want to do, but he had to try.

With no clue how he would attack, Shadow raced toward Amy.

Metal Jerked backward suddenly. Amy's legs lashed out, missing Shadow's face by only inches. Shadow jumped up and used a spin dash similar to Sonic's to start trying to saw off Metal's hand. He was making it through, but too slowly. Would he be able to save Amy? He had to move faster. Even his extra burst of speed didn't speed up his sawing. It seemed that Metal's hand was regrowing itself. The metal…was alive.

Amy made gagging noises. She was going to die…going to die…

Her hands were desperately trying to remove Metal's fingers. Shadow stopped spinning and had a quick idea. He grabbed the handle of her hammer and slammed the hammer into Metal's hand.

Although the Metal grew fast, it wasn't as strong as before, Shadow reasoned, like skin, it must take a while to regrow the stronger metal. So if he used his small crack in the metal and the force of Amy's hammer, together they should be enough to knock Metal's hand off.

Shadow was right, the hand did break off. But Amy still was choking. The fingers didn't let up with the grasp on her neck. Shadow grabbed her and broke off on of Metal's fingers by accident- and his whole hand fell limp. Amy took in breaths of relief as Shadow turned to face off with Metal again.

Metal's eyes were glinting and glaring in dark red. He was heating up the atmosphere around him, and Shadow felt unbearable heat.

"Shadow…you defe…defeat hi…him with…Sonic's weakness…" Amy gasped.

"what's that?" Shadow asked.

"I…I thought you….would know!" Amy rasped, sounding like Tails.

"I didn't know Sonic had a weakness…He's never been beaten before…He's not afraid of anything I know of…What is his weakness.." And then Shadow knew. "Water! Sonic can't swim!"

"there's no water here.." Amy said.

"But those tubes with the nuclear power! If you could break one, Amy, we could drench him in it- it's got a double effect- it'll heat him too much and it's liquid, and he can't swim. We have to try!"

Amy agreed, and she got up, although shadow saw her wince at that, and started using her hammer on a tube. Meanwhile, Shadow had to keep Metal from getting too close to Amy.

Amy was thunderstruck. Not only were the tubes extra strong, they were extra hot. She couldn't think of anyway to open them up!

She looked around hopefully for something she could use to break them. Her eyes fell on Metal's limp hand. It was cold and sharp. If it didn't protrude in, it would shatter- unless it rebuilt itself. Could she gamble on Eggman's work?

She grabbed the hand. 'No choice' she said to her self grimly. 'I have to do this. Shadow's counting on it. I'll do it.'

Without a second thought, she broke one of the fingers off Metal's hand off and stabbed the tube. The finger dissolved in her hand onto the tube, liquid metal. It danced on the tube sizzling and sparking. The tube was peeling underneath it, but the little bit of Metal was not enough. Amy threw the rest of his hand on, and yelped, "Shadow!"

Shadow got away from Metal in time. He grabbed Amy's hand. "Let's get to higher ground!" He said.

Amy was jerked after him, but she looked back. The green liquid was very hot, it seemed to be burning Metal through and through. He kept dying, but returning again. Amy felt sorry for him, but she couldn't help him. His filters were sucking in the energy, choking him almost- but not quite.

The air was heating up, and the liquid was burning the path at Shadow's heels.

"Faster!" Amy yelled. Shadow put on an instantaneous burst of speed.

They both went flying onto the clearing where sonic was waiting, a destroyed robot at his feet.

"Amy! Shadow!" Sonic said. Shadow Grabbed Sonic's arm.

"We've got to get out of here!" Shadow said in a hurry.

"What! What's going on?"

"The nuclear liquid is loose! It's destroying the area!" Amy said.

Eggman laughed evilly. "Soon you will all die!"

"Tails!" Sonic called.

Eggman laughed all the more.

Amy held her breath. Would they make it in time?

Break through…the door… 

Sonic knew his friend was here. He called again for Tails, and again. But when tails didn't come, he only had one person to rely on- Eggman.

"Shadow, Amy!" Sonic said. "Follow my lead!"

"Okay!" Amy said.

"Right." Shadow agreed.

Sonic jumped and grabbed a hold of Eggman's flying machine, the one he was always sitting in. Amy and Shadow did the same.

"What! What are you doing!" Eggman exclaimed.

"You kill us, you kill yourself!" Sonic said triumphantly. "How will you be able to gloat if you're dead and so are we?"

Eggman was obviously dueling with the thoughts in his head. He did want them dead, but if he couldn't gloat over it, why bother? "Good point, hedgehog." He said to Sonic.

Sonic grinned at Shadow and Amy. "Tails will be here." He said. "Just keep your grip."

Amy nodded, but shadow wasn't paying attention. He was looking away.

"I have another idea." Shadow said slowly. "Amy, Call Tails on your cell phone and tell him to go home."

"but"

"Just do it. Sonic, keep her on this flying machine while she calls."

"Okay." Sonic agreed. "What are you thinking?"

"you'll see."

Shadow was thinking of a Chaos emerald on Eggman's ship. He remembered well that Eggman had at least one in his machine at all times. If he could get a hold of that, they could chaos Control out of there.

He scrambled up the side of the machine and Eggman said, with a slight droll, "Shadow, just WHAT do you think you're doing?"

"Doctor." Shadow said, dully. He smirked. "I have plan to kill Sonic. I'm taking your emerald."

"What?"

"If you value your life, you'll just hand it over." Shadow said, menacingly.

Eggman smirked, but his hands were twitching as if he was afraid. "You're lying. You wouldn't take the emerald off of me by force."

Shadow looked into the machine. The emerald must be what was keeping them afloat. "So, you're using the chaos emeralds energy to fly."

Eggman retorted, "And what if I am?"

Shadow jumped off the machine, and used his SpinDash to slam into it again, He went straight through, grabbing the purple emerald inside.

"Got it!" Shadow exclaimed. "Chaos Control!"

He disappeared and reappeared on the falling machine. "Shadow!" Amy said, in relief.

"Grab hold." Shadow said. Sonic took hold of Shadow's arm. "Chaos Control!"

And they disappeared from VirtualDNA.


End file.
